library-monastery?! ...aperitivo in Florence

Kat met me at the train station when I arrived in Florence and we walked from the station to aperitivo - to grab something to eat for an early dinner. She took me to a great place... just behind the Duomo... in what used to be a monastery and is now a library/cafe. YES! We went to Biblioteca delle Oblate.

Florence's beautiful and impressive Duomo!

The lovely KAT!

Walking up the stairs within the monastery... pretty lovely views:

Definitely a beautiful place with a view for aperitivo when first arriving to Florence!

View of the Duomo's dome from the monastery-turned-library cafe.   : )

Night 1 - Navigli with the FAM, Milan

We walked to the Navigli canals from the Duomo's plaza...

On the walk from the Duomo to the Navigli:

My mom had read about aperitivo before coming to Milan and wanted to try one.

Aperitivo is the happy hour of Milan... it's the best way to eat cheap and eat at a 'normal' dinner hour.

Restaurants do not open until 7:30 or 8:00pm... but aperitivos began around 5:30 or 6:00pm. A person orders one drink (any drink off of a menu of probably 15 pages or so) and then you eat as much as you want from the buffet offered. We found a bar/restaurant on the Navigli and enjoyed an aperitivo experience. It's not my favorite... the food is nothing better than 'alright'... but it is fun to go, have a drink, and hang out. The aperitivo we had offered a delicious mini tiramisu on cups!

Where we had aperitivo:

thank goodness for the Opera taxi man!

Friday night a group of us went out for a teacher's 30th birthday. (Happy birthday Todd!) We set out from Opera a bit after 7:00pm and made our way into the city. We went to the Navigli area in Milan, along the canal and had an apertivo... you order one drink and there is a buffet of food that you can help yourself to (this is my favorite way to Dinner!).

Another teacher, Angela, and I decided to head back to Opera after the aperitivo, while everyone else headed to a new venue. I'm still feeling a bit jet lagged and looked forward to a night's sleep... and sleeping in.

We took the 9 tram, to the 24 tram, (and if any Camp Stella Maris people are reading this... I taught Angela how to play both the Mom Game AND the Cowboy Game!) ...but then Angela looked at the time and gasped...

Neither of us realized that it was already 10:30pm... and the 222 bus, which we were catching next is scheduled to leave the stop at 10:45pm and does not come around again until 11:50pm. ...We were not going to make it to the 222 in 15 minutes.

We were 5 minutes late.

D'Oh!

It would be a loooong walk to Opera... on a busy road... with no lights... and no the greatest area to hang around in at night.

Soooo... thankfully, a returning teacher had given Angela the number for the taxi guy in Opera. (There is only ONE taxi in Opera.)

I called... and spoke enough Italian to let him know that we were at the Vigentino stop and needed a ride to Opera adesso (now). He was currently at the Linate airport and would be to us in about 20-25 minutes. Perrrrfect. ...Better than waiting an hour!

Sure enough, he pulled up... and for 15 euro we safely made our way back to Opera.

...Thank you Paolo the Taxi Man!

aperitivo

My first night in Milan we went to a returning teacher's apartment for an aperitivo. It was really nice of her to have everyone over. There was a variety of dishes to pick and choose from. Mmmmm the olives... prosciutto around cantaloupe... mmmmmm.

The next night, we were in the city and went to a bar for an aperitivo. You buy a drink and then can eat as much as you want... usually around 9 or 10 euro. It's great... my kind of eating! I like a smorgasbord of foods to snack on.

I ordered a Pimm's Cup.

Refreshing and delicious!

A spread of snacks...

On the weekend we went up to Belaggio... a small mountain town on Lake Como.

We ate in a wine cellar and some of us shared a cheese and cold-cut plate.